A tiger has tested positive for COVID-19 at a zoo in New York.
The Bronx Zoo said six other lions and tigers are showing symptoms of the virus.
Four-year-old Malayan tiger Nadia tested positive for the virus while others are showing symptoms including a dry cough.
The zoo has said they are all expected to recover and while some of them have lost their appetite, they are “doing well under veterinary care and are bright, alert and interactive with their keepers.”
The zoo said the test administered to Nadia is different to the ones used on humans and was carried out in a veterinary school lab.
“You can’t send human samples to the veterinary laboratory and you cannot send animal tests to the human laboratories – so there is no competition for testing between these very different situations,” said the zoo’s chief vet Dr Paul Calle.
The zoo has promised that any knowledge it gains about the virus through the big cat’s diagnosis will “contribute to the world's continuing understanding of this novel coronavirus.”
It is the first recorded infection of an animal in the US and the first in a tiger anywhere in the world.
A morning moment of #ZooandAquariumZen brought to you by our Malayan tigers going for a swim. Enjoy! pic.twitter.com/PgWh7rBgei
— Bronx Zoo (@BronxZoo) March 31, 2020
It said there is no evidence that animals can infect humans, outside of the virus’s original jump across species in China.
“There is no evidence that animals play a role in the transmission of COVID-19 to people other than the initial event in the Wuhan market, and no evidence that any person has been infected with COVID-19 in the US by animals, including by pet dogs or cats,” it said.
Tigers at the Bronx Zoo. Image: Julie Larsen Maher/WCSThe US Department of Agriculture, which carried out the test, said it believes the cats caught the virus off a zookeeper who was “actively shedding virus.”
“The zoo has been closed to the public since mid-March and the first tiger began showing signs of sickness on March 27th,” it said.
“All of these large cats are expected to recover. There is no evidence that other animals in other areas of the zoo are showing symptoms.”
A tiger at the Bronx zooIt said that anyone sick with COVID-19 should limit their contact with pets throughout their illness, just as they would with other people.
It is making the recommendation “out of an abundance of caution” with no reports of pets becoming sick in the US.
Anyone who needs to care for an animal while sick should wash their hands before and after interaction.
It is not the first report of animals coming down with the virus after two dogs in Hong Kong and a cat in Belgium tested positive.
